Comrades in Arms
by SavedByGrace82514
Summary: Full summary inside. Follow a couple of military operatives as they learn more about themselves and the world of Pandora. All of my o.c.'s are based on real people. Rated M just to be safe.


Comrades in Arms

This story takes place during the entire events of Avatar and after. Follow Master Sergeant Jesse Kademenos, Major Nicholas Xavier Hall, Captain Daniel Tarr, Second Lieutenant Nathaniel Mulhollen, and Private First Class Jacob Moore as they cope with the betrayal of friends, the outright genocide attempt on the People that three of them have come to call their own, and the lunacies that go with day to day life on the most hostile environment known to man.

This will definitely be AU but not until later in the story. Also many of you will see that my writing style has changed and that is due to a writing course I took a few years ago and just found the book. Thank you and Enjoy!

"Jesse! Where are you? We bounce at zero-niner."

**Nick ran through the apartment that he, the Sergeant, and Captain Tarr shared. He distinctly remembered telling him to be ready by 0600. Yet the Sergeant still had not gotten ready yet. He was still lying in bed.**

"**Is he still not ready yet?" Danny asked as he walked by, a beer held in his hand. "I thought you told him to be ready by 0600."**

**Nick just shook his head. "I thought I was starting to lose my head there," he said. "I did tell him to be ready. If he isn't ready in ten minutes then that beer you have there is going in his bed with him. You got another one of those?"**

**The captain shook his head, failing to hold back a smile. "Yeah," he said chuckling. "There's one left. Better drink it or it'll go bad. I don't think beer can last eighteen years in a fridge."**

**Nick grabbed the can out of the fridge and popped the top. "No, it wouldn't," he said after taking a big drink. "Especially this swill. I asked you to get Corona. Why did you get freakin' Budweiser?"**

"**They were all out of Corona," Danny replied, shrugging it off as nothing. "I got the next best thing."**

"**In your opinion," Nick smirked at him. "Give me a Corona any day. Well, Jesse's ten minutes is up. Wanna help me?"**

**The Captain held his hands in front of himself. "This one is all you," he said. "Last time I helped you he punched me square in the jaw." He reached up and absently rubbed his jaw. "This time it's all you."**

"**Fine. I can manage all by myself."**

**Nick walked out of the room with his beer clutched in his hand. Danny listened closely and heard a splash followed by some muffled curses.**

"**Rise and shine, Sergeant," Nick hollered. "Let's get a move on! We are leaving at 0900. That gives you three hours to exercise, get dressed, and get all your belongings packed into your suitcase."**

**When the Sergeant decided to just lay there in bed, Nick grabbed the edge of his bed and flipped him onto the floor. "I said get moving! Did you not hear me Sergeant?"**

**Jesse climbed out of the mess that once was his bed, a light in his eyes that said somebody was getting a beating. Nick saw that look and instantly covered himself. "Hit a superior officer and see what happens," he said. "I dare ya. Now come on. We gotta get ready to go. They want DNA samples from us before we ship out so we have to be there a couple of hours early. Jacob and Nate are going to meet us there at 0900. I gave you three hours of sleep. That should be enough time to get ready. Now move!"**

**The Sergeant walked out of the room but not before stopping and looking the Major in the eye. "Dude, the way you woke me up was mean," he said. "Don't do it again."**

**Nick wasn't intimidated by the Sergeant at all. He had been at one point but then he was promoted to Major and Jesse remained Master Sergeant. "Then you had better start getting up on time," he countered. "That way we won't have to do this almost every day."**

**Nick walked out of the room and resumed getting all of his things in order. Earlier that week, they had learned that the RDA was hiring any retirees for security on Pandora. He had called the old team together and they had decided to take the offer. Besides, the pay was out of this universe.**

**At 0900 the three men grabbed their duffel bags that contained everything they owned and walked out of their apartment, never to return.**

**On the other side of the world, PFC Jacob and Second Lietenent Nathaniel were boarding a military Sampson bound for Kennedy Space Center. Both had been packed the night before and had waited for hours on end for the Samson to appear on the horizon. It finally came into view and flew right at them. It hovered for a minute before setting down and going into low power mode. Jacob and Nate ran over and climbed in.**

"**Sorry for the wait, Sirs," the pilot apologized as soon as they had boarded and were secured. "Kennedy held me over for weather issues."**

"**That's fine," Nate replied. "We'll just tell them you're the reason that we're late."**

**The pilot paled as he heard Nate's words. "I'm just kidding," Nate added hastily after seeing the pilot's reaction. "Let me have the controls for a minute, son."**

**The pilot shifted control over to the copilot's seat then sat back. "I hope you know how to fly sir or we are all in deep….." the pilot screamed at the top of his lungs as the craft fell toward the ground at a dizzying rate. It continued until it was about one hundred feet from impact. The craft pulled up and looped around, gaining altitude the entire time.**

**The craft leveled off after about five minutes. "Here you go," Nate said, giving control back to the pilot. "I still got the magic touch."**

**Jacob smirked at him. "Magic touch my butt. Don't get all cocky on us, flyboy."**

**Nate just grinned and looked out the window. Down beneath them, the scarred landscape of Earth passed by them at a dizzying speed. He looked away when he thought he was going to throw up. "What do you think they are going to do with the DNA they get from us?"**

**Jacob shook his head. "Beats me. I'm just a dumb grunt, remember? I'm not interested in science as you and Nick are."**

**Nate laughed. "Yeah, I kinda forgot about that. I guess it's all just routine."**

**Jacob turned and looked out the window, gazing into the buildings that dotted the landscape. A second later, a bullet slammed into the bulkhead right next to his head. He jerked his head away from the window quickly.**

"**What the heck was that?" he yelled. "Why are we getting shot at?"**

**The pilot shrugged and started to fly erratically so as to avoid enemy fire. "It's probably insurgents. At least you had better pray its just insurgents. The other countries armies have better that just carbines. We have had a lot of activity in this sector."**

**Nate looked at the pilot with obvious discomfort. "You act like its nothing to worry about. We could be blown out of the sky for all we know! And on top of that they are still shooting at us!"**

**Another bullet smashed though the glass, this time buzzing by Nate's head. He ducked and put his head between his legs.**

**Again the pilot shrugged as if nothing had happened. "Like I said, this happens all the time. Rarely do they score a hit. It's nothing to…."**

**The pilot was cut off abruptly as a bullet slammed into the glass in front of him. He never had a chance to even dodge it. It hit him square in the forehead, killing him instantly. Blood sprayed all over the cockpit, hitting Nate and Jacob everywhere. The pilot slumped over the stick, pushing it forwards. Suddenly the Sampson began to nose-dive towards the ground.**

**Nate grabbed his stick and hauled back on it but to no avail. "I can't pull us out," he yelled at Jacob. "The pilot had a switch attached to a retinal tracker that could transfer control to the copilot. The bullet completely destroyed it."**

**Jacob looked at Nate, carefully masking his terror behind his grim expression. "Bust out some of that magic you said you had earlier." He yelled the next part as he saw the ground approaching. "GET US OUT OF THIS MESS!"**

**Nate reached up and began flipping switches. As he hit them, Jacob could hear the engines begin to power down.**

**Jacob continued to look at Nate helplessly as the craft shut down completely. "What are you doing," he yelled. "How is this going to save us?"**

**Nate began pushing buttons and flicking switches. Jacob heard the engines begin to power back on before Nate began speaking again. "If I did this right, I should have control now."**

**Slowly the Sampson's engines came up to full power. Nate punched the throttle up to full power and yanked back on the stick, praying she would respond. The nose slowly tilted up and began to gain altitude.**

**Nate let out a huge sigh as Jacob let out a wild cry of thankfulness. The Sampson continued to rise through the air, gaining altitude the entire time. It rose above the skyscrapers, breaking into the blue sky above.**

**Nate set the auto-pilot and sat back. He sighed heavily as he looked at the dead pilot. "We'll let Kennedy take care of him. They can make sure he gets the burial he deserves."**

**Jacob looked at the pilot. He was so young. He reached forward and shut the man's dead unseeing eyes. "Yeah, they'll take good care of him."**

**They flew on in silence, both with thoughts brewing in their minds. "You remember in Venezuela," Nate said, memories rushing back to him as he broke the silence. "When we were supposed to evac and that lunatic Jesse went forward into the trenches instead of going back?"**

**Jacob snorted loudly, trying to hide a chuckle but failing miserably. "Who could ever forget that? That was probably the most stupid move I have ever seen. And trust me, as the king of stupid moves, I know."**

**They both laughed, letting their tension and fear slide out with their laughter.**

**For four more hours, they flew on until the coast of Florida came into view. Nate switched off the auto-pilot and turned the craft towards Cape Canaveral.**

**The Sampson rocked back and forth as it descended in a steady downpour of acidic rain. She continued to lose altitude until she was level with the old, outdated shuttle launching pads.**

**As they passed the first pad, their radio crackled to life. "Sampson 8-6, please send verification code now," the voice said.**

**Jacob and Nate looked at each other in horror. They did not know what the code was, nor did they know where it was located.**

"**What do we do?" Nate asked hastily.**

**Jacob scanned the walls of the cockpit quickly before answering. "I'm gonna guess that this button with the letters 'Code verification' has something to do with it." He pushed the button and through the headset, Nate heard old Morse code go through the speakers.**

**They waited, holding their breaths, praying that this was indeed the code.**

**The radio crackled to life a moment later. "You are cleared for landing on platform 2-7. Please advise high wind near landing area and welcome back to Kennedy."**

**Nick, Danny, and Jesse waited on the landing pad, scanning the horizon for the Sampson that carried their comrades and friends. The wind whipped past them and the rain fell in sheets, chilling them to the bone.**

**Danny looked at the horizon then began walking around the landing pad, rubbing his hands together to keep them warm.**

**Nick joined him a moment later, keeping pace with him. "When do you think they'll get here? They are already behind schedule by about two hours."**

**The captain just shrugged. "I have no idea. They should have been here by now. Something must have gone wrong."**

**Jesse raised a hand to his eyes, scanning the horizon while the other two men walked around the perimeter. He found the object he was searching for a moment later. "Chopper inbound," he hollered. "It's Sampson 8-6!"**

**Nick gave Danny the smuggest look he could come up with. "See. And you thought something had gone wrong." He walked away laughing, leaving Danny to stand there staring at the chopper as it descended.**

"**I just know something went wrong," he muttered as he walked over to join Nick and Jesse. **

**As the chopper slowly lowered itself to the ground, the men shielded themselves from the backwash of the rotors. Not only was the backwash cold but it carried rain with it. **

**Jesse noticed something on the inside of the glass in the cockpit. "Hey Nick," he hollered over the sound of the chopper. "Does that look like blood to you?" He pointed to the inside of the cockpit.**

**The major's face paled almost instantly when he saw the blood that streaked the glass of the Sampson's cockpit. He grabbed the small radio that always hung at his waist, jamming in the talk button immediately. "This is Major Nicholas Hall, USAF. I need a med-evac team out at landing pad 2-7. Requesting them immediately."**

**A voice responded almost instantly. "Got it. They are on their way. ETA thirty seconds."**

**A few seconds later, they could hear a siren coming from the direction of the space center. A big ambulance type vehicle passed by them and skidded to a halt in front of the Chopper. Several medical personnel jumped out and cracked open the cockpit of the craft.**

**Nate and Jacob gingerly climbed out of the craft, both of them covered in blood. The medical staff began asking them questions as to what happened. When the staff was satisfied that neither of them was hurt, they let them go.**

**Nate and Jacob walked away from the Sampson, looking like serial killers. Nick and Danny just stared at them. "What happened to you?" they both asked at the same time.**

**Nate grimaced. "You won't believe us even if we told you."**

**Danny shrugged. We've seen it all. Try us."**

**Nate began telling the story with Jacob adding in comments here and there. Nick whistled when Nate was done speaking.**

"**You both came very close to death," he said seriously. "Let's not have you guys repeat that. That would leave me and Danny stuck with the homicidal maniac who happens to carry all of the biggest guns."**

**They all laughed except for Jesse. He wore his usual look of don't mess with me on his face which made them laugh all the harder.**

**Jacob recovered first and looked down at his clothing. "Is there a place where we can get showered?" He frowned as soon as he said that. "I….I mean not together. Separate of course."**

**Everyone started laughing again until Jacob spoke up again. "I didn't want you guys to think I was gay or anything."**

"**What are we going to do with you Jacob?" Danny said as they walked into the Space center/research lab. **

"**I'll tell you what we can do with him," Nate said a moment later. "Toss him out of a Sampson at 10,000 feet."**

"**Not bad, not bad," Nick said pensively. "It lacks originality but we could make it work. I'll keep that in mind." He looked at the walls as they walked, trying to figure out where the showers were located. He found the sign a moment later. "Up on the left are the showers." **

**Nick saw the look on their faces as soon as he said that. Most times base showers were wide open with no stalls in them. He tried hard to keep a straight face but failed miserably. "Don't worry. Everything is stalled around here. None of the showers are wide open. Go get cleaned up and we'll wait for you here before we go to the science wing of the building."**

**Danny couldn't hold back the comment he had been dying to say. "Have fun you two."**

**The three men laughed. Jacob turned around and gave him a double dose of the middle finger as he and Nate walked to the showers. "We plan on it," he said as he put his arm around Nate.**

**Nate let out a small shout and ran ahead of him, looking over his shoulder the entire time.**

**Nate and Jacob showered –separately- and changed into clean fatigues. They found the rest off their company standing right where they had left them.**

**The group set off towards the science lab, joking with each other all the way. They managed to offend a doctor, nurse, and an MP with their callus jokes.**

**Upon reaching the Sci-lab, they walked up to the set of double pneumatic doors that led into the lab itself. When they didn't open up, they stood there looking at one another.**

**Nick looked through the doors. Upon seeing no one, he was a little confused. "They said the doors would be open. Lying little craps."**

**Just as he finished speaking, Danny motioned over his shoulder at something. A tall nerdy looking man had walked out of one of the labs and was approaching the doors from the other side. He had light brown hair and wore a lab coat over his civilian clothing. Around his neck was a pair of dog tags, leaving the group to wonder how this man had ever served in the military. **

**The man passed a card over a sensor in the door and stepped back as they slid open. **

"**Welcome gentleman," He said. "I am Dr. Norman Spellman. Call me Norm though. Never did like the whole Dr. part or Norman for that matter." He gestured down the long corridor. "Shall we?"**

**They all introduced themselves with Nick going first as they walked down the hallway. After they had all been introduced, Norm explained why they were here.**

"**We take DNA samples from all the new recruits," he explained. "It's become standard procedure. Anyway, as soon as your DNA is taken, we combine it with DNA of the Na'vi, the native race of Pandora. If it produces a viable embryo, the person, from which we took said DNA, is immediately transferred to the AVATAR program, no matter what branch of the service they were in before. I take it you all know what the AVATAR program is?"**

**All of them shrugged and shook their heads. None of them even had known it existed until a moment ago. "Would you be so kind as to enlighten us?" Nate asked.**

**Norm gave them a small smile and shrugged. He sighed heavily before saying anything. "Well I guess not a whole lot of people know what we are and what we do." He paused, gathering his thoughts together before he continued. "The AVATAR program was originally designed to make ordinary mine workers into 'Super-Miners', as the RDA called them. They would take the DNA of the human and the native and combine it to create an Avatar, or as the Na'vi call them 'Uniltirantokx' or 'Dreamwalkers.' The person who has the Avatar is required to link to it in order to operate it. We have what is called a Psionic link unit. It is like an MRI machine, only it transfers your consciousness and everything that is distinctly you into your Avatar. What the RDA didn't count on was that it costs upwards of one million dollars a day to link with just one Avatar and the fact that only one in a million people have a match with Na'vi DNA."**

**He paused when they came to another set of doors. He fished around in his pocket for second before pulling out a ring of plastic keycards. He passed the card in front of the scanner and the doors opened up a moment later. He walked through, gesturing the rest of their small group to follow.**

"**The RDA calls the AVATAR program a bad joke," he continued after he made sure they had all passed through the doors. "But for the scientists that were sent to Pandora, it's a dream come true. We can walk, talk, and eat the indigenous foods without having to wear an exopack to restrict our movements. Obviously we can't breathe in an oxygenated environment but your Avatars will be the first we try a new serum on. This new serum should allow you to go anywhere you want, whether in an oxygenated environment or outside in the compound. I believe they will give you the shot when you've been linked for a considerable amount of time. At least that's the last I had heard." He shrugged before continuing. "Like I said earlier, since it is such a rare type of DNA to be able to bond with the DNA of the Na'vi, we like to test everyone who comes through here. The only one we didn't test was Colonel Quaritch. And the reason we didn't test him was because he is in charge and very intimidation, like your friend there is trying to be but failing miserable."**

**Everyone looked at Jesse and couldn't help but laugh. He had his chest puffed out and a scowl on his face. When Norm mentioned him trying to act intimidating and failing, he visibly deflated. "Why does everyone always pick on me?" he mumbled to himself.**

**After everyone stopped laughing, Nick looked at Norm and saw they had reached their destination. As Norm reached out to grab the door knob of his lab door, Nick grabbed his hand. "I've got to ask this. If we have a match, are we instantly transferred into the AVATAR program?"**

**Norm reached over with his other hand and took Nick's hand off of his arm. He looked the slightly larger man in the eye before replying. "Yes," he said sternly. "We don't have many people and we want to be able to study this world of Pandora. For in studying it, we can make medicines and other products to help our world. So yes, you are immediately transferred under the head of the AVATAR program, Dr. Grace Augustine."**

**Having said that, he turned and walked into the lab. "Follow me in here please," he said. "This is where the magic happens. This is where we are going to match your DNA with the DNA of a Na'vi." He stopped and pointed to several stations where lab technicians were busy at work. "If you would all go to separate stations, the lab techs will attend to you." He stopped Nick as he went to walk past him. "You're with me," he said as he steered him toward a lab station.**

**Nick gave norm a quizzical glance but followed him over to the station anyway. "So what's with singling me out, Doc?" he asked.**

**Norm drew a small needle out of a case that was sitting on the counter. He sterilized a small spot on the Major's arm and hesitated in putting the needle into the man's arm. "I want to know if you're willing to join the science team on Pandora if you have a match."**

**Nick sighed heavily before continuing. "I have killed for a living for as long as I can remember. I have taken so many lives that I've lost count." He took a deep breath. "You're asking me to give up flying and to never be able to sit in a cockpit again. I just don't know if I can do that. I mean I'm tired of killing. If there was a way I could keep flying and still have an Avatar, I would go for it."**

**Norm hastily spoke up when Nick paused. "We have aircraft that Avatars can fly. So you would be able to fly in your Avatar. Most likely you would be flying everyday to take scientists out into the jungle to gather samples and the like."**

**Nick visibly relaxed. "Then count me in."**

**Norm smiled, thanking whatever gods there were. He had succeeded in the first part of his agenda. "Good. That's very good. Well, hopefully, welcome to the team."**

**He grabbed the needle from where he had set in down. He stuck it into Nick's arm and filled it all the way up. After giving Nick a small patch of gauze for his arm, he stood, holding the blood in his hand. "We will have the results back in roughly an hour." He gestured toward the door. "You can wait here or there is a lounge down the hall and to the left. It's up to you and your men whether you go or not."**

**Nick shrugged. "We aren't used to luxury, so, if it's all right with you, we'll just stay right here and wait."**

**Norm extended his hand and Nick stood up to take it. That's fine," the doctor replied. "Like I said, we will have the results back in about an hour so just relax and take it easy."**

**The rest of the guys had already had their blood taken and were waiting for their commander to join them. They watched the scientists file out of the room before talking amongst themselves.**

"**Blood sucking Vampires," Danny muttered under his breath.**

**Nick smirked. "Did the guy who took your blood just plunge the needle in and not even look for a vein?"**

**Danny absently rubbed the spot where the needle had gone in. "Yeah. Not even very considerate. I hate these cocky scientists. They think they are better than us because they went to school for eight years."**

**Nate readily agreed. "Ditto on that. I guess all we do now is wait."**

**The men sat there and waited for almost an hour before Dr. Spellman came walking back in. He had a smile on his face that could have lit up a dark room.**

"**Well," he began. "I have good news and I have bad news. Which do you want first?"**

**They looked at each other in uneasy silence. "Give us the bad first," Jesse said, breaking the silence.**

**A hint of sadness crossed into Norm's features. "Upon extensive testing we have found that Jesse and Jacob's DNA is not compatible." He paused for a second and took a deep breath. "The others, on the other hand, have come back positive." He smiled and held his arms out invitingly. "Welcome to the AVATAR program."**

**The next thing everyone knew was that Nate was unconscious on the floor. Nick and Danny rolled their eyes and hoisted him up. They asked Norm if there was a place where they could put him until he came to.**

"**Yes," Norm said hastily, quickly seeing that Danny and Nick were having a hard time holding him up. "There is. It's in the lounge. Follow me." He quickly led them to the lounge and watched as they deposited their friend unceremoniously onto the couch. "I must say, this is a first. I have never seen anyone faint like that before."**

**Danny patted Norm on the shoulder as he walked over to the vending machines. "It won't be the last time you see it either." He dug around n his pockets for a minute. "Uh...Anyone got a dollar I can have?"**

**Well, there it is. Hope you enjoyed it. Second chapter should be up soon. That all depends on how much you review. Remember everyone loves reviews and that little button is dying to get pressed so that your review may come straight to my inbox and I can read it and be happy. So happy that I will start writing chapter two. **


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